Validus
Validus is a Decepticon in the Transformers: Extinction fanon. Profile Before the Great War, Validus was a military general in the Polyhex Wars, seeing combat mostly on the bloody campaign against the city-state of Iacon. However his pride was to be his downfall, and he lost unforgivable numbers of his own troops in overly daring and suicidal missions, crippling the already-futile offensive. After the wars, the standing army of Polyhex was no longer engaged in active combat, and Straxus needed to show a willingness to demilitarise in order to revitalise the flagging state of his nation, waning as a result of being weaned from the war economy it had relied on for decades. As a result of this, an unprecedented number of troops found themselves decommissioned. Any soldier who had seen enough combat was transferred to the reserves or asked to retire from the forces entirely. Having come out of the factory just prior to the outbreak of first offenses of the Polyhex Wars, against the small fiefdoms of Turayis and Uralnya, and having proven to be a tactical liability at times, Validus was quickly and efficiently shown the door. Although he settled to civilian life, working largely as a construction site manager, he could never quite settle. He longed for the rigid hierarchy and sense of belonging which the military provided him. It was at this time he began to develop his obsession with military history. Memorising the tactics of battles from long ago, as well as documenting the various minor state squabbles and spats that would blight the world of Cybertron during its so called Golden Age. The centuries ticked by, and Validus’ life ebbed on, always seeming to him hollow and pointless. Then the Decepticons rose. As soon as Straxus was certain Megatron and his army were serious, Polyhex and all its military assets were pledged to the Decepticon cause, and Straxus was rewarded with one of the highest ranks in available at that time. Although in theory all who lived in Polyhex were now Decepticon citizens, a great many chose to ally themselves with the Autobots. Validus’ position as a civil engineer during a time of war meant he could not join the regular army, and nearly drove him to join the Autobots, who were desperately recruiting anybody able to fill their sparse military ranks. However, he longed for the tighter, more traditional military hierarchy of the Decepticon army. Eventfully he managed to get enlisted in the Imperial Decepticon Mechanical Corps, settling for a non-combat commission. He was finally in the army again. His sense of duty and belonging was finally returning after all those centuries. The war raged on. Validus gained respect and status, but never particularly friendship. He wasn’t a mech of the people, and really wanted to be. Eventually he rose to the rank of Company Commander. The turning point came during yet another Decepticon push for Nova Cronum. The vast majority of the forces in the area were directed in a gambit to well and truly capture and finally keep the city at long last. This left the surrounding area utterly undefended. Validus and his company were building a refuelling and supply base behind the lines, which would prove vital in keeping the city. At the very time the Decepticon forces were advancing upon Nova Cronum, the Autobots sent a small force to take out the base that was under construction. Armed with barely more than basic tools and a small guard unit, Validus, being the highest ranking transformer in the area, took it upon himself to defend the half completed base. Five hours later, the Autobots were vanquished, with minimal casualties. The base was completed, allowing the occupying forces to be restocked and refuelled in time for the inevitable Autobot backlash. The period of control of Nova Cronum the Decepticons enjoyed after this push was the longest either faction has kept the city for during the war to date. As soon as Decepticon High Command heard of Validus’ actions, he was immediately promoted into the regular army. His combination of tactical skill, and respect for the hierarchy led to him rising into a similar rank in the regular army that he held in the Mechanical Corps. As the war spread to other worlds, High Command began to develop new tactics, including sending small twelve mech advanced teams, led by some of the brightest tactical minds, ahead of the main invasion force to set up safe beachheads. One of the units formed was Red Company. Validus was selected to lead this unit. He went from commanding hundreds of mechs to a mere eleven. Whilst it was handled as a promotion, and whilst he refused to defy the hierarchy, Validus felt cheated by this new post. For the first time since joining the Mechanical Corps, he found himself questioning his superiors. Despite his unease though, he refused to let it interfere with his duties. Description Validus is very much suited to military service. Utterly loyal to his superiors, he refuses to question any orders, even those he knows will result in risking the lives of his subordinates in unnecessary missions. Seen as rather dull and uninteresting by his unit, he is none the less much respected. His tactical skill has seen the lives of his soldiers saved despite ridiculous odds time and time again. During the small amount of downtime between missions, will always be found catching up on military history. Although he never really socialises with his men, he none the less will always take a blast for them, less through camaraderie and compassion, more through the need to prove he is the best at what he does, and the great commander he deep down fears he isn’t. His alt mode has barely changed since he was constructed for war just before the commencement of the Polyhex Wars. Upon the cessation of combat and his decommissioning, he kept his basic alt, but adapted it for civil engineering. Most of what he added then, he kept upon the outbreak of the Great Civil War. Even when he was finally drafted into the main army, he only added one main gun to his alt, otherwise he retained his abilities as a mechanical engineer, partially as a badge of pride for the Nova Cronum incident, but mainly because deep down, he dose not feel he deserves a truly military alt. Abilities Validus spent most of his peacetime existence trying to make up for his early mistakes in the Polyhex Wars. As a result he studied virtually every major battle in Cybertron’s history. This has lead to an amazing tactical skill, unrivalled by all but the sharpest processors from the great military academies. In both alt and robot modes he is very strong and heavily armoured, and is able to carry out field repairs. Validus carries an XS3 Ionised Null-Ray, developed from the smaller and far more experimental XS2s used by Dreadspawn’s exitium unit. Weakness Validus doesn’t socialise at all with other transformers, and sees no reason to. Is utterly unable to cope with existence outside of war, and outside of the strict hierarchy of the military. Without the military, is utterly unable to understand the point of his existence. In alt mode he is slow, and relatively under armed. Although he is able to command small groups of mechs to amazing feats, on his own he isn’t the most formidable fighter. Category:Transformers: Extinction Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Decepticons